A Review on Infiltration Patterns in Different Types of Soils

Abstract

A hydrological phenomenon that occurs in nature is infiltration. It is a difficult, nonlinear procedure. The process by which water at the soil\'s surface penetrates the structure is known as infiltration. The depth of the water layer that may saturate the soil in one hour is typically used as a measurement (in mm or cm). Various models, and methods are used for evaluating the infiltration rate. Significant scientific effort has been put in over the past few decades to improve infiltration process by many researchers across world. Thus, present review gives magnificent information regarding infiltration rates on different types of soil around the world and research work done in India is also discussed as infiltration rate is crucial for drainage and irrigation effectiveness since it maximizes water availability while reducing erosion. Hence, paper focuses on reviewing different infiltration patterns, challenges and future work to overcome these challenges as soil infiltration rate continues to be a subject of interest so many researchers have done a number of research papers on this topic, thus reviewing the study of it.

Introduction

The infiltration rate (IR) of soil varies depending on factors like vegetation cover, soil texture, structure, bulk density, initial moisture, rainfall, and land use. Forest ground covers, especially leaf litter, show the highest IR. Infiltration rates tend to be higher near plant stems and beneath canopies, which act as moisture-rich zones. Different infiltration models, such as Kostiakov, Horton, Philip’s, and others, are used worldwide to predict infiltration rates, with some models better suited for specific soil types or regions (e.g., Philip’s model in the Aba region).

Soil compaction from agricultural machinery reduces IR and increases runoff, making infiltration studies crucial for water resource management and agricultural efficiency. A variety of empirical and statistical methods, including multiple linear regression, are used to compare and validate infiltration models against field data.

The review paper focuses on analyzing different infiltration estimation patterns and models used in India and globally, highlighting challenges and proposing future research directions.

The methodology for the review included selecting relevant papers using keywords related to infiltration and applying inclusion/exclusion criteria based on relevance and language.

Infiltration is influenced by physical processes like gravity, capillarity, and soil properties such as permeability, porosity, texture, and moisture content. Land cultivation alters infiltration and runoff patterns, impacting surface and groundwater interactions.

Common methods to measure infiltration include the Double-Ring Infiltrometer (most widely used), Artificial Precipitation Simulators, Run-Off-On Ponding, and Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR). The Double-Ring Infiltrometer involves inserting two rings into soil, maintaining water levels, and measuring infiltration until steady rates are reached.

Conclusion

From countless research articles, it is found that soil infiltration is a very interesting topic in all around the world and Researcher gives valuable information about their research work. Infiltration rate is varied from soil to soil and depend upon soil characteristics and land condition. Initially, it was high and decreased with time up to a constant infiltration IR and the rate is high for ploughed soil when compared to the compacted soil and unploughed soil. Some Researcher also compared their IR data with different models but which model is fitted and gives accuracy depends upon soil profile, and movement of water through the soil and double ring method is better than other to determine IR due to minimum error arising from the lateral flow of water when distinguished with single ring method. Despite the superior performance of the model, there are few challenges which needs to be overcome in future by employing better approaches, which improves the soil infiltration process.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Kalola Amit Chunilal, Parikh Arpit A., Gundalia Manoj J, Bhuva Prashant K. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.